Latest Area News Headlines

WORTHINGTON – All of the victims of the van rollover just west of Worthington Thursday morning were JBS workers, according to a JBS employee. The victims are some of the approximately 200 people who make the drive from Sioux Falls, SD to Worthington each day to go to work.

According to the Minnesota State Patrol, of the 15 people involved in a van rollover Thursday morning just west of Worthington on I-90, several were ejected from the vehicle and 11 received non-life threatening injuries. A Chevrolet Express passenger van was westbound on I-90 near mile marker 42 when it crashed...

WORTHINGTON – The Worthington High School Concert Choir has been invited to perform at the 111th annual St. Olaf Choral Day at 4 p.m. November 3. Parents of choir members interested in riding a chartered bus to St. Olafs to watch the performance can sign up for the bus and boxed meal by visiting the website at www.isd518.revtrak.net or call Community Education at 376-6105. Reading Bus Lines charter bus will leave the WHS parking lot at noon, with estimated arrival back home at 9:30 p.m. The ride home will be in...

MINNESOTA - Rochester police say they found 94 cans of baby formula on two people suspected of stealing it from two Target stores. The man and woman, both of Rochester, were arrested Monday.

Stealing formula for resale on a baby-food black market is a deeply troubling trend, crime experts say. Formula is always in demand and it’s expensive – cans typically range from roughly $14 to $34 – making it a longtime “staple” for theft rings.

Formula is such a hot commodity among sophisticated theft organizations that it’s been called “liquid gold.” Trafficking formula has become an...

WORTHINGTON – Administrative Assistant Barb Williams was presented with a certificate of appreciation Tuesday during the Nobles County Board of Commissioners meeting in Worthington. Williams is retiring after more than 25 years of service in Nobles County. She started with the county working in the Minnesota Extension office, eventually working her way over to administration, and said it will be hard to walk out the door. Friendships she has made during her years of service, she said, will last forever.

The commissioners reviewed a 2013 local water management plan, updating the 5-...

WORTHINGTON – With the amount of creativity and fun, tough choices had to be made, but the voting panel made their picks in the fourth annual scarecrow contest, sponsored by Radio Works and the Retail Business Committee of the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce. First and second place will be awarded chamber bucks.

Congratulations to the talented scarecrow crew at Schaap Sanitation, whose final creation showed a wonderful sense of humor, according to the voting panel. Second place is awarded to Sanford Equipment, for a scarecrow that was full of creativity. According to the voting...

BREWSTER – The double-wide trailer house on the Jim and Kay Voss property is a total loss, and two dogs who lived in the house are believed dead.

The Brewster Fire Department was called to the scene of the rental property on 200th Street in rural Brewster around 10:30 a.m. Monday, with the Worthington Department called in shortly afterward to provide mutual aid. According to Kay Voss, she was in her home across the grove when she first noticed what she thought was dust coming up from the field, then realized it was smoke. The renter came home and found the carpet on fire and tried...

BREWSTER – The Brewster Fire Department this morning responded to a blaze at the scene of a mobile home fire at 37378 200th Street. The home was already fully engulfed when dispatchers sent firefighters to the property in rural Brewster.

It is a rental property belonging to Jim and Kay Voss. Kay said she saw smoke coming from the house and called 911. The renter of the property had just arrived home to find the blaze around 10:30 a.m. The Worthington Fire Department provided mutual aid.

Kay said she hated to see the home burn, but was glad it didn’t happen in the middle of...

WORTHINGTON - A long-delayed project designed to bring Missouri River water to southwestern Minnesota is at a crossroads. The Lewis & Clark water project has been stopped by cutbacks in federal funding. This week the 20 local entities in three states that comprise the project’s board will vote on whether to fund the completion themselves with hopes of eventually getting reimbursed by the feds.

The 20 cities and rural water districts are in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa. After more than a decade, the project is delivering water to 11 of the 20. But Worthington and Luverne...

JACKSON – The Senate Capital Investment Committee was in Jackson Thursday to listen as bonding requests were presented, and according to Chairman Leroy Stumpf, there are almost $3 billion in funding projects being requested from the state, which will be able to fund less than a billion. There is a hierarchy, he said, to how the requests are funded. The state prefers to maintain its own facilities first, tries to address the needs of higher education, then looks at regional and community projects.

Four groups made presentations of their projects, including Minnesota West Jackson...

WORTHINGTON - The Manna Food Pantry is having their last free produce give a-way of the season today, starting at 2 p.m. in the parking lot at the Pantry site, located at 230 Clary Street in Worthington.

WORTHINGTON — Students in Worthington hope to rally community members to commit to safe driving through State Farm’s Celebrate My Drive program. For the second year, Worthington High School students are participating in the program, which celebrates the fun of getting a driver’s license while teaching all drivers positive habits to help avoid car crashes. Last year, the Celebrate My...